Ashes to Ashes
by PicturesOfLily47
Summary: One-shot. Sydney is found. Set during 3.11, Full Disclosure.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Okay. We all know how stupid it was that at Syd's "funeral", nobody investigated the huge, suspicious-looking white van parked right next to Vaughn. I know I was ticked. I mean seriously – a group of CIA agents who had NO doubts AT ALL? Come on JJ, be realistic! Especially mah Jackky-poo. No offense. So this is a re-write of what could – AND SHOULD! – have happened. I own nothing. R&R!**

The crashing of the waves mimicked the crashing of their world.

Sydney was dead. Gone. They would never again feel her touch, never see her smile.

Jack closed his eyes. He couldn't face the reality. He had created this person, and now the only records of her being on this earth were those with the CIA. The only marks she had left were the ashes Vaughn was now throwing into the wind. He knew that as soon as he got home, there was a shot of whiskey with his name on it. He wanted to be numb. To not feel the pain now ripping at his very core.

Vaughn nearly dropped the urn into the sea. He almost turned the gun in his pocket on himself. But he knew that Sydney wouldn't want him to do that. That was the only thing keeping him sane these days, this moment. Her memory. The knowledge that she wasn't just a dream.

"Ashes to ashes…"

That's all that remained of Sydney, their friend, their family. Just a box of ashes.

* * *

"Hey."

Vaughn whirled, to see Weiss standing there. Without another thought, he threw himself into the arms of his very best friend and began to sob, dry and broken.

As he opened his eyes, though his vision was blurry through the thick tears, Vaughn saw something that struck him as odd. Not that there was anything normal about that day. But this… was just _weird_.

A white van was parked next to him. It had been there before they had arrived at the beach, and yet, the beach was empty that day except for the funeral party.

He pulled out his gun. "Vaughn? Dude?" said Weiss, pulling away and spotting the pistol. "…whoa, man. Put that away."

Vaughn ignored him, pointing the gun at the van door. "Do you have a gun on you?"

"No, because I'm not paranoid and weird."

"Is anyone in the car?" said Vaughn to the door, harshly. Leaving no room for playing games.

There was no answer.

Vaughn started to kick at the door, channeling all his anger and agony into this task.

Jack, Dixon, and Marshall turned to stare at the commotion. "What the hell?" said Dixon.

Vaughn had put a dent in the door by now.

Weiss was staring on, a bit freaked out.

With a huge _crash_, the door burst open. Everyone's mouths dropped to the floor.

"Dear God… _Sydney?_"


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Take two! Thanks to mrs. obsession for her critique... I dedicate this to you! Hope you like it this time!**

* * *

"Sydney?"

Everyone present thought themselves mistaken. And yet, there she was - Sydney, their Sydney. Alive.

Nobody moved - including the man inside the van, who was sitting by Sydney and looking equally, if not more surprised. His eyes were wide, and in his hand was a syringe filled with a mysterious fluid.

It was Jack who acted first. Slowly, cautiously, he approached his daughter and touched her face lightly. "Am I dreaming?" he accidentally said aloud. And although he was letting his emotions show, he didn't really care because he knew this was real.

Vaughn looked back and forth between the two of them for a while, and then acted very quickly: he smashed his pistol over the man's head once. "Who the hell are you?" he said severely.

The man made no move to answer, but stared back in defiance. Jack moved Sydney out of the way and set her down on a bench to check for any visible injuries.

"I'll ask again. Who. The hell. Are. You?" Vaughn said through gritted teeth. He was determined not to lose his cool completely. The angry eyes of Sydney's captor did not look away, but tried to break him. _Well? _they seemed to say. _Whatcha going to do now, tough guy? _Vaughn grabbed the roll of duct tape used to gag Sydney and tossed it to Dixon. "Bind his hands," he commanded. Dixon, in a state of shock, made no move against his orders. Vaughn stole a quick glance back at Sydney.

Jack had removed the tape from Sydney's mouth. Other than bruises on her wrists and ankles from where she had been bound to the chair inside the van, there was nothing wrong that he could see. He realized that she couldn't move or talk, but her eyes said it all. _Thank you. _"I'm going to find the antidote to the neurotoxin. Will you be okay?" he spoke, worry lining his face and creating wrinkles that hadn't been there before.

The stare Jack recieved was equivalent to: _Yeah. Go._

Vaughn looked in the guy's front, back, and coat pockets before he found the object he was looking for in his pant leg: a wallet. Opening it up, Vaughn grabbed his ID:

OLEG MADRCZYK

"Alright, Mr. Madrczyk," Vaughn said. "You are under arrest."

The man spoke in a rich baritone thick with a Czech accent: "For what?"

"For capturing and faking the death of a CIA operative," Weiss broke in, saving all present from the Wrath of Vaughn. "Just shut your mouth and cooperate and we won't have any problems."

Jack searched through drawers in the van until he found the antidote. He grabbed a new syringe and needle, disinfected them both, and made his way back to the bench. Sitting down, he turned the body of his daughter toard him and held her arm out. Jack charged the needle with 5mg of the antidote, flicked it a few times, and positioned it over the arm of his daughter. "Hold still," he said out of habit, and pushed down on the syringe.

Weiss loaded Madrczyk into the backseat of his car and departed with Dixon, leaving only Vaughn, Sydney, and Jack behind. "The antidote should begin to work in about ten to fifteen minutes," said Jack. He once again stood, but this time planted a kiss on Sydney's forehead before going to dispose of the syringe. "You're back to stay now, Sydney," he whispered. "I won't ever let anything else happen to you."

As Jack tossed the syringe into the biohazard trash bin, he caught Vaughn staring at his daughter. With a sigh, the elder man spoke to the younger: "Go over there, Agent Vaughn."

Vaughn broke his gaze for a second, offered Jack a slight smile of thanks, and moved over to the bench to sit by Sydney, the love he thought he had lost forever.


End file.
